Cigarette store eager for Route 209 project to finish

Dave Patel stood under the pitched roof and fluorescent lights of the Cigarette Outlet, which he manages in Marshalls Creek at 5228 Seven Bridges Road. It was a Saturday morning, and the large store was thin on business.

Comment

By CHARLES ERICKSON

poconorecord.com

By CHARLES ERICKSON

Posted Nov. 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM

By CHARLES ERICKSON
Posted Nov. 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM

» Social News

Dave Patel stood under the pitched roof and fluorescent lights of the Cigarette Outlet, which he manages in Marshalls Creek at 5228 Seven Bridges Road. It was a Saturday morning, and the large store was thin on business.

"It's in the back. I can show it to you, if you want to see it," Patel said.

He was talking about the store's roll-your-own cigarette machine, which was unplugged at the end of June to comply with new federal rules. To keep the machine in service, this store and others like it would have had to obtain permits to manufacture cigarettes, collect excise taxes and put health warnings on the packs of cigarettes rolled by customers.

There were other reasons for the soft sales, according to Patel.

"When they started work on Route 209, it became slow," the manager said as progress continues on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project that is expected to conclude by December.

People have not given up tobacco, of course, and some of the store's customers drive miles before arriving there.

A pack of cigarettes costs $6.31, including taxes. That is more than $3 cheaper than a pack costs in New York.

Patel thought the buyer was likely a local university student. Interstate purchasers typically buy in greater quantities.

Besides cigarettes, which are also sold by the carton, the store carries loose tobaccos of the kind used for making cigarettes and smoking in pipes, although Patel said pipe tobacco is not a big seller.

Cigarette Outlet's roll-your-own cigarette machine is offline, but customers buy loose tobacco for hand-rolling or making cigarettes in machines they buy for household use.

"We sell an electronic machine. The cost is $100," Patel said. Other rolling machines, with more features, cost approximately $200.